An Oct. 3 fire at Cornelius Chiropractic's 1250 Baseline St. location caused at least $80,000 in damages to the building, the city's fire department initially reported. The business had relocated to a building addition next to Cornelius Veterinary Clinic at 1252 North Adair St., but closed Friday, Dec. 27.

Joseph Hamlin, who owns Cornelius Chiropractic, said his business previously had 2,500 square feet of space and the veterinary clinic addition is one 1,200-square-foot room. Instead of continuing to work at less than 50 percent capacity, Hamlin said, he decided to shut down his business while the space is expanded and remodeled, possibly by September.

"We thought when we first took it over we'd be able to hire some people, move some walls around and we'd be back in business," he said. "But two months have passed and nothing has changed."

But Hamlin likes the location of the veterinary clinic because his business is easier to spot from the road. He also said the building that burned would likely take too much work to repair, so he doesn't plan to move back in.

"Even though we had a good location over at the veterinary clinic and people saw us and we had more new patients, our business was going down as far as income because we couldn't treat as many people," he said. "We didn't have enough room to do it in."

Dr. Bob Bullard, who owns the veterinary clinic, said he is working with an architect to expand his building and the addition that Hamlin's business was in. Plans are still preliminary, Bullard said, but he hopes to finish an expansion by September.

Though the chiropractic clinic has closed, Bullard said the veterinary clinic would stay open throughout an expansion.

Until Cornelius Chiropractic opens again for business, Hamlin is referring his patients to three area clinics: